Bangor Daily News reporter Nok-Noi Ricker did a great job in this story about two young children who suffered from the effects of witnessing their mother being abused, and whose recovery is now "bittersweet".
Now that some time has passed, Tracey Haskell of Orono said she is dealing with the seldom-seen side of domestic violence homicide — what happens to the children left behind.
Two days after her sister’s murder, Haskell was named legal guardian of Chelsea and Aidyn, her late sister’s youngest children. (April Haskell’s older son, Josh, 15, lives with his father in Dexter and her oldest daughter, Kathleen, 18, lives in Bangor.)
Signs of the abuse that Chelsea and Aidyn witnessed are apparent since leaving their parents’ residence, a place of constant conflict, Haskell said.
Her 5-year-old nephew was always reserved and was identified as having several developmental problems. Now, Haskell said, he is an outgoing, rambunctious boy who no longer needs as much special attention at preschool.
His little sister, too young to express her feelings in words, also has brightened, according to Haskell.
“It’s bittersweet,” she said of the terrible circumstances that led to the children’s improvement.
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